Clasp.



No. 744,017. PATEYNTED NGV. 17, 1903.

G. B. ADAMS. A

CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 12, 1903.

No MODEL.

` WITNESS-Es: INVENTGR:

ATTORNEY f within the said vslotted part of said main bodyV Nici-*ED STATES PatentedNovember-TY, 1903.

PATENT UFF-1GB GEORGE B. ADAMS, OF IRTINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN RING COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPOBATION.v

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.A 744,0l7, dated November 17, 1903. Application filed March 12, 1903. Serial Nn'. lIi'LLlLiO.` (Nomodel.)

To al?, whom, it may concern:

Bc itk nown that I, GEORGE B. ADAMS, ac-itzen of the United States, residingat Irvington, in the county of Essex and State of New J erseyghave invented certain new andusef-ul Improvements in Clasps; and VI do hereby de- Vclare the following to be a f ull, clear-,and .exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art .to which it appertainsto make andv` use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of treference marked thereon,

p 'which form a part of this specification.

construction offclasp' provided with means SIG for preventing the disconnection or displacement of 'the pivotal lugs or journalsof thev actuating' pr operatinglever from the journal-bearings connected with the device when the said lever is carelessly handled.-

A further object of the present invention is to vprovide a construction of clasp in which Y the outer face-plate holds an actuating or opv'ss erating lever in its pivotal positionk without -tlie aid of a spring and permits of the operating-lever to be pivoted on the outer snr- :face'of -the Amain frame or body, whichxis made witlr a' slotted member or face-plate and under normal conditions vallows of the seating of Y' the guide-rib on one of `the' mem-` bers or arms ,of the spring employed directly.

f member or face-plate, and the said rib on saidi from the jou rnal-bearingso` 1 O therfobjects Vof 'the presenl willibe clearly understood from the following detailed description of my present invention. With these various objects of my present vinvention in .view the said invention com..

sists in the novel construction .of clasp herev4inafter set forth; and, furthermore, this invention consists in the several novel arrangements and combinations of the various parts,

as well as in the details of the construction fullydescribed and then finally embodied in the' clauses of the claim.

kfuating or operating lever in its lowered vor.

clamping relation with the-remaining parts '6o thereof, all of which will be -hereinafter more of the clasp. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical v section of the clasp, said section representing the operating-lever in its operative position V'with the spring; and-Fig. 4 is asimilar sec..-` tionof the saidclasp, representing the various parts of "the mechanism in their inoperativepositions and the said operating-lever raised, with a portion on the inner surface of said lever 'against a stop upon thespring .to limitthe pivotal movement-of the said lever. Fig. 5 is a Atransverse vertical sectionof the device, said section v:being taken on linel 5 5 in said Fig. l.Y Figa 6,7, and .8 are perspective views vof the operating-lever, the spring, and' the main body or frame, respectively.

f Similar characters ofreference are em vpreferably"formed ofA the shape. andconglb spring member or a projection or. lngonthe v@ration as shown and is doubled upon litsellfso main body member .or face-plate-serving-as a stop against which a part of the actuating or operating leveris brought when raised to '-fli'm'it its pivotalJmo'vement and `prev/"ent1-tl1e` vvdisplacemel'xtof thelpivot lugsor journals f 2 i' ,pair of'ljournal-bearings. Within the body -jupper plate1 3,'asis clearlyillustrated in the 2fthusforine the'saidface-plate. 3 and the 'i 'several'ig'ures ci the drawings,.being madeV w'itlja sui-tableopening orsloaas, and a IGD or bent upon itself, as shown, so as to provide two members or spring-arms 8 and 9, the said member or arrn 8 bein/gr provided at or near its forward end portion with a downwardlyextending tooth or teeth 10 and the other member or arm 9 being provided at or near its forward end portion with an upwardlyextending tooth or teeth 11.. The said member or arm 9 is also provided with an upwardly-extending longitudinal guide or rib 12, preferably forced out from the main body of said arm or member and having astraight edge 13, which provides a suitable stop, for the purposes to be presently set forth. The back plate -L is usually made with an opening, as 1-1, into which a lug or holding-tongue on the member or arm 9 is sprung when the members or arms 8 and 9 of the spring 7 are arranged between the said face-plate3 and the back plate i, and thereby held against displacement between the said plates 3 and i, as will be clearly understood. Of course it will be evident that the said spring 7 and the said inain body or frame 2 may be secured in their operative positions in anyother suitable manner.

In Figs. l to 6, inclusive, I have represented one form of actuating or operating lever 16 for actuating the upper member or arm 8 of the spring 7. This lever 16, as will be seen more especially from an inspection of Fig. 6,

comprises a handle portion or lifting end 17, apairofholding or clamping wings or tongues 18 and 19, extending downwardly from the sides of the main body of said lever, the out-- wardly-extending pivot lugs or journals 20,

extending at right angles, or approximately so, from said wings 18 and 19, and a stop or.

lug 2l or other suitable projection projecting in a downward direction from the marginal edge portion of the said main body of said lever lying directly between the said two clamping wings or tongues 18 and 19.

From an inspection more particularly of Figs. 1 and 5 ofthe drawings it will be seen that the said pivot lugs or journals 2O are pivotall-y. arranged in the said bearings 6, with the main body of said lever 16 and its handle or lifting end 17 lying above the opening or slot 5 in the face-plate 3 and the said holding wings or tongues 18 and 19 extending down into the said opening or slot 5 and being arranged on opposite sides of the guide or rib 12 on the upper member or arm S of thespring7. vWhen thesaid lever 17is raised, as indicated in Fig. 4, then the upper meinber 'or arm 8 of the spring will lie closely against the under surface of the face-plate 3, with its guide or rib arranged directly wit-hin the slot or opening 5 in said face-plate, and the edges 22 of the said wings or tongues 1S and 19 will rest directly upon the upper surface of the said arm or member S of the spring and at either sidel of the guide or rib 12, in which positions a piece of fabric or a part of a garment can be inserted in the space bel tween tl two spring members or arms 8 and l 9, as will be understood. When the lever is lowered from its raised position indicated in said Fig. 4 to the actuated position represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, then the said wings or tongues 18 and 19 will be turned down through the opening or slot 5 in the face-plate 3, and they are thereby bronghtin sliding frictional holding or clamping engagement with the said member or arm 8 of 'the springl 7 and will cause said member or arm 8 to be brought atan angle to the `plane of the surface of the lower member or arm 9, whereby the inserted material or portion of the garment is firmly clamped and held between the two spring members or arms 8 and 9. The said rib l2 is for the purpose of propcrly guiding the pivotal movements of the lever 16 and also to prevent any possible lateral displacement of said lever while operating the device.

To prevent the lever 16 from being raised too far, and thereby perhaps forcing the pivot lugs or journals 2O from the bearings 6,where by the said lever would be completely separated froin the device and said device thereby rendered inoperative, the said lever is provided with the previously-mentioned lug or projection 21, which catches the straight edge 13 of the guide er rib 12 on the member or arm 8, and thereby prevents the said lugs or journals 20 from beingjumped or forced from their operative positions wit-hin the bearings 6.

From the above description it will be seen that I have devised/a simple, neat, and dun rahle construction of clasp provided with a pivoted operating or clamping lever which cannot'be forced from the pivot or journal oearings connected with the face-plate of the device.

I am aware that changes may be made in the various arrangements and combinations of the several parts without departing from the scope of my present invention. do notlimit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the parts as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, nor do I coniine myself to the exact details of the construction of the said parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-.

1. In a clasp, a pair of doubled-over members, one of which is a face-plate and is provided with au opening, journal-bearings` connected with said face-plate, a lever having pivot-lugs journaled in said bearings, a spring between the members of said body, said spring comprising a pair of arms and a rib on said spring', a pair of downwardly-extending wings 'at the sides of said lever, and an engaging lug on said lever at a pointbetween the said wings, all arranged to move in the said opening of said face-plate, said lug being capable of engagement with the inner .face ot said spring to limit the backward pivotal movement of said lever, when said lever is raisml.y and i` wings at the sides of said lever lsf-1.1;

Hence I IOC bers, one of which is a ieee-plate and is pro- 'vided with an opening,journal-bearings oonneeted with said face-plate, a lever having pivot-lugsjournaled in said bearings, aspring between the'members of said body, saidspring comprising a pair of arms, and a raised rib on one ofeaid arms tering-point, a pair of downwardly-extending wings at the sides of said lever, and an intermediatelyplaeed holding-lug on said lever, all arranged to move in said opening in the face-plate, said holding-lug being capable of entering the seid entering-point of said rib for engagement with the under portion of said rib to limit the pivot-el movement of said lehaving et one end an enver, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. in e clasp, a body combined with a, lever comprising en arm having; Side wings 1S and 19, pivot-ings 20 extending laterally from said wings, a connecting 'body portion between said Wings, a lug 21 'on said body extending at a right angle, or approximately so, from said body at a point between said Wings, and means cooperating with said lug 21 to limit the pivotal movement of said arm, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

vIn testimony that claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of March, 1903.

GEORGE B. ADAMS.

Witnesses: v 'I FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, GEO. D. RICHARDS. 

